Page 19 of Sun Warrior

With a ferocious snarl, Rigel flew at him, knocking the grown man to the ground, where he stood over him, growling a warning, bared teeth almost touching his neck, while Laru pinned Thaddeus’s mean little Terrier to the ground, forcing him to bare his neck and belly, too.

The other canines, Shepherds and Terriers, moved as one, backing away from Laru and Rigel, lowing their heads, and tucking their tails submissively.

“Nik, Mari, call your Shepherds to you,” Wilkes said. “Thaddeus, we need to focus on stopping this fire. Later there will be time for the Tribe to decide what is to be done about the other events of today—if the Tribe survives. Until then, you will keep your hands off Mari and Nik.”

Laru and Rigel padded back to their positions beside Nik and Mari, leaving Thaddeus and his Terrier to get slowly to their feet. Thunder boomed in the background and the wind shifted again, whipping suddenly from north to south, bringing with it sparks, smoke, and the ravenous roar of the approaching inferno.

“We’re out of time! We need sunfire to make a break in the forest fire, but without our Sun Priest—”

Wilkes had begun to quickly address the group, so everyone’s attention had shifted to him—everyone’s attention except for Mari’s. She was still watching Thaddeus, still considering how a single hate-filled man could have so drastically affected her life, when she saw his hand go to the small sheath at his waist. He glared at Rigel as he flicked it open and with practiced dexterity pulled the throwing dagger free.

Mari’s fear boiled from deep within her.“Not Rigel!”As she screamed at Thaddeus she let loose the anger that had been simmering within her since he’d first called her whore. A ball of fire burst from her outstretched hands, landing at Thaddeus’s feet and catching his pants, causing him to drop the dagger, which fell, blade down, burying itself into Odysseus’s flank. Both man and canine shrieked in pain. Thaddeus ran into the nearby stream while Odysseus screamed in agony and tried to grab the handle of the dagger with his teeth.

“Help him! Help Odysseus!” Thaddeus shouted from the stream.Two of his Hunters hurried forward, pulling the blade from the little Terrier’s flank and applying pressure to the bleeding wound.

Mari stared at the injured Terrier in horror—torn between the understanding that she probably wouldn’t be allowed to help the canine and her gut reaction, which was tohelp the canine.She must have taken an involuntary step forward, because Nik’s hand was suddenly clamped around her wrist.

“Thaddeus caused his Terrier’s injury. Not you. Stay strong, Mari. You just called down sunfire. You’veprovenCompanion blood beats through your veins,” Nik whispered to her.

Every Tribesman and woman in the clearing stared at Mari. She pulled her eyes from the wounded canine, lifted her chin, and let her gaze take in the group.

“Do you still doubt that my father was one of you?”

Thaddeus staggered from the stream to Odysseus, roughly pushing aside the two Hunters who had been tending to the Terrier’s wound. He crouched beside the little canine, who was still whining pitifully, and skewered Mari with his hate-filled green eyes. “You fucking bitch! You’re going to pay for hurting Odysseus!”

Nik started to speak, but this time it was Mari’s hand on his that stilled him. “Do you ever take responsibility for your own actions?” she asked as she shook her head in disgust. “Everyone here saw what happened. You threatenedmycanine. I called down sunfire to stop you.Youdropped the dagger you would have used to cut Rigel, hurting your Odysseus instead.It was your fault!”

“And it wouldn’t have happened had you not trespassed here. Just like the fire wouldn’t have happened—and Sol’s death wouldn’t have happened,” Thaddeus shot back.

“It’s simple,” Nik spoke up. He didn’t so much as glance at Thaddeus. Instead, he addressed the watching men and women. “Do you want to wallow in hatred with Thaddeus, and continue to reap what anger sows, or will you open yourselves to something more, something different, something better?”

Into the waiting silence came the disembodied voice of a stranger.“It’s even simpler that that. Do you want to attack the only person here who can call down sunfire and save us all?”

Mari’s eyes widened as a man burst from the wall of smoke. He jogged straight for the stream, splashing the cold, clean water over him. But Mari paid him less attention than she did the creature by his side.

“It’s a Lynx,” Nik said softly. “His Companion is a mercenary.”

Even surrounded by danger, Mari was filled with curiosity. The feline was big—easily bigger than a Terrier. Even filthy and singed, her coat looked thick and soft. Her paws were enormous and reminded Mari oddly of a gigantic rabbit. The Lynx’s ears were tipped with distinctive black, feather-like fur, and when she glanced Mari’s way she was taken aback by the way the feline’s yellow eyes shined.

“Antreas has a valid point,” Wilkes said.

The man looked up then, and Mari was surprised to see that his eyes were the exact color of the cat’s. He wiped his face with the sleeve of his tunic before saying, “And just in case my point didn’t strike home, you should know that right behind the fire, which is right behind Bast and me, is a swarm that is devouring everything the fire misses.”

“Swarm?” Wilkes called to the Lynx’s Companion. “A swarm is on the move during daylight?”

“Yes, if you can call this daylight.” Antreas made a gesture that took in the smoke-filled sky and the shrouded sun. “You have no more time. If you can stop this fire, do it now. If you can’t, you are welcome to follow Bast and me. We got cut off from the Channel when the wind kept shifting, but we’re going to make our way around Port City to the Willum River.”

There was a huge explosion behind Antreas. Mari noticed that before the man reacted he looked to the Lynx. He nodded and then surged from the stream. “Or you can stay here and bicker like dogs. It makes no difference to me.”

“Bicker likedogs?” Thaddeus shot the question at the Lynx man. “You insult us in the heart of our own Tribe?”

Antreas paused as he and his Lynx walked past Thaddeus and Odysseus. Several inches taller than the rather delicately boned Hunter,Antreas looked down his nose at Thaddeus. “I don’t see a Tribe anymore. I see a group of bickering children.”

“You fucking cat lover—” Thaddeus began, but lightning quick, the Lynx leaped between her Companion and the Hunter. She arched her back and her yellow eyes flashed dangerously as she hissed a warning.

Antreas smiled as Thaddeus stumbled back. “That’s right, Bast doesn’t live by your rules. She won’t knock you over in ashowof dominance—she’ll eviscerate you. Keep coming, dog man, and make her day.”

“Thaddeus, stand down!” Wilkes commanded. Then he nodded to Antreas. “I won’t ask you to stay. This isn’t your Tribe and this fire isn’t your fight. I will ask, though, that you mark your trail to safety clearly, so that the Tribe may follow if need be.”